Lavatory with stowage compartment

ABSTRACT

An aircraft lavatory comprising an enclosure having a door, a first side wall, a rear wall, a ceiling, and a second side wall, wherein the second side wall includes a sink, the second side wall defining a plane and wherein the sink is inwardly disposed from said plane. To create space for a stowage compartment, an additional side wall parallel to, and adjacent to, said second side wall is formed. This space houses a stowage compartment accessible from outside said lavatory, the stowage compartment formed between said second side wall and said additional wall.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/130,835, filed Apr. 15, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/036,273, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,321,534, filed onSep. 25, 2013, which claims priority to and benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/707,422, filed Sep. 28, 2012. The contents of each ofthese are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to aircraft enclosures, and moreparticularly relates to an aircraft cabin lavatory and compartmentformed in a wall therein.

Anyone who has used an aircraft lavatory can attest to the fact thatthere is a limited amount of space available for anything, much lessstowage. Although the space inside the lavatory is minimal at best, inmany aircraft fuselage arrangements the construction and position of thelavatory leaves certain unused space just outside the walls, space thatend up serving no useful purpose. This is partly a result of theaircraft's need to allow passenger's seats to be reclined, or simply toaccommodate the last row of seating adjacent the lavatory. Becauseutilization of available space is critical to the performance, comfort,and maintenance of an aircraft, the more unused space that can beconverted to useful space like stowage compartments, the more efficientthe aircraft will be. The inventors of the current invention havedevised a novel way to increase the usable space on the aircraft withoutloss of useful space in a lavatory.

In a commercial aircraft, a lavatory has a minimal footprint that istypically the width of a door, plus the area taken up by the sink andcommode. A sink takes up a large portion of the space in a lavatory, asis necessary to capture a flow of water when washing of hands, etc.Above the sink is either a wall or a mirror, and a small drawer orcabinet may be provided for minimal supplies, tissue, soap, papertowels, and the like. In many cases, the area below the sink of anaircraft lavatory serves as a storage compartment in the aircraft, whichmay store life vests, emergency supplies, or other aircraft items usedby the flight attendants. However, the present invention takes advantageof the area behind the wall to create a new storage area accessibleadjacent the door of the lavatory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a stowage compartment built into the lavatoryand accessible from the main cabin. The stowage compartment is formedbetween a newly installed wall in the lavatory that extends generallythe length of the lavatory and from the ceiling to a height just above alow profile sink. The newly created space can include a pull out draweror a small door that provides access to the stowage compartment. Thepresent invention increases the storage area in the aircraft withoutreducing the area for passenger legroom or the galley, depending uponthe location of the lavatory with respect to the rest of the cabin.

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate by way of example the features of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art lavatory arrangementjuxtaposed with an aircraft passenger seat;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an installation of a lavatory accordingto the present invention with new stowage compartment accessible fromoutside the lavatory; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of dual lavatories of a recessedconfiguration incorporating the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art version of an aircraft lavatory,juxtaposed with a passenger seat, such as might be found at the rear ofa commercial aircraft. The lavatory includes a sink, with a recessedarea above the sink to allow the passenger to wash their hands. Thearea: below the sink is available for stowage, but there wall of thelavatory rests against the passenger seat, excluding any means by whichfurther space could be utilized.

Turning to FIG. 2, a first embodiment of a lavatory of the presentinvention is disclosed. The lavatory 10 includes a door 12 with a knobor handle 14 to gain ingress and egress into the lavatory 10, and a vent16 at the lower portion of the door 12. The lavatory is formed by afirst side wall 20 and a second side wall 22. A rear wall (not shown)cooperates with the floor 24 and ceiling 26 to form a standard lavatorycompartment. In the present invention, an additional side wall 28 islocated adjacent the second side wall 22, forming a volume between theadditional side wall 28 and second side wall 22 below the ceiling. Thisnewly created volume can be divided into two smaller volumes, a firstvolume forming an amenities area 30 for bathroom tissue, soap, papertowels, air sickness bags, and other items found in an aircraftbathroom. The remaining portion of the volume is used to create astowage compartment 32, accessible from outside the lavatory 10 andpreferably having locking means 34. The stowage compartment 32 can beaccessed through a door, or it may be a drawer that slides into and outof the volume between the walls 22,28. A low profile sink 36 is shown inshadow illustrating its position within the lavatory. In this case, thesink 36 completely extends inwardly (relative to the compartment) fromthe plane of the wall 22, as compared with the prior art sink (FIG. 1)in which the sink is disposed behind the plane defined by the wall. Byextending the sink inward, the space is created to locate the stowagecompartment 32. A commode would be positioned behind the door, but isomitted here for simplicity. The stowage compartment 32 does not need tobe positioned directly over the sink, but this provides an efficientlocation for maximizing the space available between the walls.

United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0253835, incorporated byreference herein, illustrates an aircraft lavatory that is shaped toaccommodate the seats or other structures that may be adjacent to thelavatory. As shown in FIG. 3, this type of lavatory can also be used inconjunction with the present invention. When two lavatories 100 areplaced side-by-side as shown in FIG. 3, the adjacent walls create aspace in between that can be used for the stowage compartment 32 of thepresent invention. Here, one side wall of the lavatory on the right canserve as the outer wall, establishing the volume for the compartment 32as shown. From the schematic, the contour of the right side of thelavatory is recessed to create a usable space that can accommodate bothamenities that are typically located inside the lavatory, plus aseparate compartment that can be accessed from the main cabin.

The stowage compartment 32 of the present invention maximizes in anefficient manner the available space that is created by the recessedwall of the lavatory. This stowage compartment 32 can free up space inoverhead bins, or provide additional space for galley or emergencyequipment. This lavatory stowage compartment can be used with virtuallyany aircraft lavatory, and can be adapted for straight walls or recessedwalls.

One application of the present invention is the provision of a secureand separate location for aircraft equipment that is normally stowed inoverhead bins or stow boxes. The present invention provides easy andconvenient access to such equipment along with a designated locationthat eliminates hunting for certain equipment. The stowage compartmentof the present invention also can provide storage space for passengerpossessions that do not fit into the overhead bins, or can be overflowstorage when the overhead bins are full.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that while particular forms ofthe invention have been illustrated and described, various modificationscan be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention belimited, except as by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An aircraft lavatory with a stowage compartment,comprising: an enclosure having a door, a first side wall, a rear wall,a ceiling, and a second side wall, the second side wall defining aplane; a sink inwardly disposed from the plane with respect to the firstside wall; an additional side wall outwardly disposed from the secondside wall with respect to the first side wall, creating a first spacebetween the second side wall and the additional side wall forming anamenities area; and a stowage compartment disposed at a height above thesink and below the ceiling, the stowage compartment being accessiblefrom outside the lavatory, the stowage compartment formed in a secondspace between the second side wall and the additional wall.
 2. Theaircraft lavatory of claim 1, wherein the stowage compartment includes astowage compartment door.
 3. The aircraft lavatory of claim 1, whereinthe stowage compartment is a lockable stowage compartment and includeslocking means.
 4. The aircraft lavatory of claim 1, wherein the stowagecompartment includes a slide out drawer.
 5. The aircraft lavatory ofclaim 1, wherein the first space and the second space are generallyvertically aligned.
 6. The aircraft lavatory of claim 1, wherein thesink is provided on the second side wall.
 7. An aircraft lavatory,comprising: an enclosure having a first side wall, a ceiling, a secondside wall, a door between the first side wall and the second side wall,and a rear wall opposite the door, the second side wall defining aplane; a sink inwardly disposed from the plane within the enclosure andwith respect to the first side wall; an additional side wall parallelto, adjacent to, and outwardly disposed from the second side wall, theadditional side wall and the second side wall forming a spacetherebetween; and a stowage compartment provided between the second sidewall and the additional wall at a height above the sink, wherein thestowage compartment is accessible from outside the lavatory.
 8. Theaircraft lavatory of claim 7, wherein the stowage compartment includes astowage compartment door.
 9. The aircraft lavatory of claim 7, whereinthe stowage compartment includes locking means.
 10. The aircraftlavatory of claim 7, wherein the stowage compartment includes a slideout drawer.
 11. The aircraft lavatory of claim 7, wherein the space isan amenity space, and wherein a volume between the first side wall andthe additional wall includes the amenity space and the stowagecompartment.
 12. The aircraft lavatory of claim 11, wherein the amenityspace and the stowage compartment are generally vertically aligned. 13.The aircraft lavatory of claim 7, wherein the sink is provided on thesecond side wall.
 14. A lavatory structure for an aircraft, comprising:a first lavatory; a second lavatory positioned adjacent the firstlavatory; a contoured wall including a recess, the contoured wallforming a portion of at least one of the first lavatory and the secondlavatory; a first space formed at least in part by the contoured wall,the first space including an amenities area accessible from an interiorof one of the first lavatory and the second lavatory; a second spaceformed at least in part by the contoured wall, the second spaceincluding a stowage compartment accessible from outside the lavatorystructure.
 15. The lavatory structure of claim 14, wherein the stowagecompartment includes a stowage compartment door.
 16. The lavatorystructure of claim 14, wherein the stowage compartment includes lockingmeans.
 17. The lavatory structure of claim 14, wherein the stowagecompartment includes a slide out drawer.
 18. The lavatory structure ofclaim 14, wherein the amenity space and the stowage compartment aregenerally vertically aligned.
 19. The lavatory structure of claim 14,wherein the contoured wall is a first contoured wall and the recess is afirst recess, and the first contoured wall forms a portion of the firstlavatory, wherein the second lavatory includes a second contoured wallincluding a second recess.
 20. The lavatory structure of claim 14,wherein the second contoured wall forms an outermost exterior wall ofthe lavatory structure.